bowes



HAWQZM "@fcm 99 392% W H. BOW/IES POS-'.QMARKING AND STAMP CANCELINGMAQHINE Filed May 13 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 @Hor/H2115 :ill

Patented @et 9, l923.

WALTER H. BOVES, OF STAMFOFJD, CONNECTICUT.

Appncanon inea May 13,

To all. 1Mo/met 17mg/ concern:

lle it known that l, VVAI/rnn H. Bowne, a subject ol3 the King ot GreatBritain and Ireland. residing at Stamford, in the county ot l"airieldand State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful.Improvements in .Postmarking and Stamp-(Jamet ing lilachines; and lhereby declare that the following is a `t'ull` clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had lo the accompanying drawings,which form part of this specification.

This invention relates to machines for postmarking and canceling mail,of the type conunonly known as Universal stamp canceling and postmarking machines, such as shown in patent to (firahaini #1,022,191,.lpril Q, 1912, and Bowes Patent #1,356,886, lvlarch 18, 1921, but isadaptable to other types ot machines wherein it is desired to makeimpressions upon articles such as letters, sheets ol paper` checks. andthe like.. l will describe one embodimentofthe invention particularlyconstructed and designed vtor use in` connection with such stampcanceling and postmarking machines, but it should be understood that theinvention is susceptible olf other applications in the art and is notlimited to the particular mechanism described.

(lne object oi" the present invention isto provide a novel combined diespindle and stop arm whereby are obtained increased strength, greaterlightness, and enhanced practical speed of the machine; which Iaccomplish by making such members of a single piece of forged steelthereby reducing the weight ot the printing member and the partsconnected therewith; which have to be stopped and started for eachletter or each impression made by the machine.

."fnother object is to provide means for automatically lubricating theclutch by which the said die spindle is actuated thereby keeping` allthe members ot the clutch cool and greatly increasing the possiblepractical speed ol operation ot the machine.

.'lnother object is to provide novel means tor supporting and holding'various rollers to their work with yielding spring pressure, so that thesaid rollers will be effectively held yieldingly to their work under theproper tension and with proper torque.

'turther object is to provide novel means 'tor supplying ink to theprinting member in such manner that the inking devices not 192i. sei-iaiNo. 469,305.

only do not retard such member but actu'- ally assist in acceleratingthe motion thereof during the initial starting movement of the saidmember.

l' will explain one practical embodiment of the invention which isillustrated in the accompanying drawings, to enable others tainiliarwith the art to understand, adapt and use the same and in the claims aresum.- marized the essential features of the invention and the variousnovel features of con'- struction and combinations oit parts, for all otwhich protection is desired.

ln said drawings; y

Fig. l is in part an elevation and in part a sectional view of a portionot' a stamp canceling and `postmarking machine embodying the presentinvention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of Fig.` 1.

3 isa top plan view of the combined prin ter and spindle.

Fig. 4 is a side view thereof.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the combined printerand spindle, and of the clutch attached thereto.

Fig. G a plan view of-one ot the yielding rollers and its supports.

Fig. Y is a side view thereof partly in section.

Fig. 8 is aI sectional view of the inking roller and its clutch.

Fig. 9 is bottom end viewfot Eig. 8.

Figs. 10 and 11 are detail top and side views oit the Clutchmcmbers o1"the spindle driving clutch.

In the construction indicated in the drawings the usual impressionrollerl coacts with the die-carrier or printer 1b, the trip-pressure-roller R and the coacting trip-feedroller R1 being arranged inadvanceot' the printer. These parts may be arrangedand adapted tooperate substantially as in' the so-called Universal stamp cancelingrand post iarking` machines, and therefore do not reduire furtherdetailed description herein.

ln the llniversal machines heretofore ma de,the die spindle, the die hubor printer, and the stop arm, have been made in sepa-` rate parts andthe die and stop arm keyed to the spindle; and as a result ultimately inservice considerable back lash developed due to the wear or shearo'lfth'e keys and'` such back lash was a source of. annoyance as'itFrequently permitted the printer to move closer to the felt ink roller,in some cases into actual Contact with it, and in such cases the feltroller, which is always revolving, wore away the corner of the die. Oneobject of the present invention is to do away with any possibility ofsuch back lash. Therefore in accordance with the present invention thedie spindle, die hub or printer and stop arm are made or forged in onepiece.

As shown (see Figs. 3-5) the die spindle l, stop arm. la, and die hub orprinter lb, are made integral, preferably in one forging; the said partsbeing of the proper size and location so that they can take the place ofthe three separate parts as heretofore made. The die hub or printer lbis provided with a suitable recess ls for the removable printing die Pwhich is customarily eniployed in Universal machines. The stop arm la isformed below the die hub l and carries the usual roller l@ adapted toengage the stop arm l2 controlled by thevtrip de- `vices l5' as shown inBowes Patent #1,365,886; such a trip device is shown in Fig. 2 but formsno part of the present invention, and therefore need not be described indetail herein.

It will be seen that in this construction the spindle l., die carrier orprinter lb and stoparin l1 are all forged or formed in one piece. Thereis no separate die shaft or spindle and there are no keys or pins forcontrolling the relative positions of the printer, spindle and stop arm,and therefore these parts havel an absolute permanent fixed relation andare not affected by usage as are the separate parts shown in theaforesaid Universal machine.

The spindle l is rotated once each time the trip is released and forthis purpose a frictionfclutch isemployed. ln my present invention theclutch is at the lower end of the spindle l. This clutch comprises acollar 2 pinned fast to the spindle at 2C; an upper collar 2a keyed tothe spindle by a pin 2b ext-ending through a slot le in the spindle, sothat the collar 2a can slide on the spindle while it is caused torevolve with it; the upper part of the collar 2a is providedl with aworin thread. 2w which worm operates the counter (not shown) as in theUniversal machine. Loosely mounted on the spindle between the collars 2and 2 is a metal disk 2d and between the opposed faces of the disk 2fland collars 2 and 2n are friction members 2e which may be of cork orother suitable material. Preferably the disk 2 is provided with corkbuttons projecting above and below the surface thereof and forming themember 2e as heretofore used on the Universal machine; but any suitablefriction members may be employed.

v"The disk 21 projects beyond the collar 2 and is provided with notches2f in its pe riphery (Fig. 10) which are adapted to be engaged withcorresponding lugs 3f on the upper end of a cup 3 (Fig. 1l) whichsurrounds the collar 2 and lower disk 2e. The cup B is pinned on theupper end of a shaft 3 (Fi,H l) which entends through suitable bearings8b into the oil chamber in the top of the machine, (see Fig. l) and saidshaft may be continuously' driven during` the operation ofthe machine bysuitable gearing from any source of power, as in the aforesaid Univcrsalmachine. The cup 3 when revolving' causes the disk 2d to rotate andfurnish the power te rotate the spindle l whenever the stop l2disengages the roller lC on stop arm lkl The amount of fric-tionalcontact pressure between the surfaces of the friction mez-.i` bers 2C,2d and collars 2, 2n may be regulated by a rod lf placed within an axialbore in the spindle l and bearing` upon key 2"l in a slot in collar 2a.Rod lm is normally depressed by a spring l" the tension of which isregulable by a screw 1P as in my said .Patent :fl-1,365,886.

Below the stop arm. l the spindle is jours naled in a bearing on the topplate (l of the machine as indicated in the drawings; and above theprinter the upper end of the spindle has a bearing in one end of an arml which may be mounted on studs T2 and T3 on the top plate as in my saidpatent; and thus the spindle is securely positioned and has theadvantages of overhead and underneat-h bearings.

To keep the parts cool and permit high speed of operation T providemeans for continually lubricating the clutch. This means comprises a cup5 which is preferabl,v open at its upper end and extends above the topof the cup 3 (Fig. 1).. Said cup 5 is supported upon the top of the oilchamber, and the stem or hub of the cup is conveniently made to form abushing for the upper bearing of the spindle 3a. This cup has an opening5 in its bottom which is connected by a. pipe 5b with an oil pump 5 ofany suitable construct-ion, which preferably is se-A cured to the bottomplate ll of the gear frame, as in the Universal machine. The pump 5 maybe of any suitable kind and operate in any suitable way, and thereforethe details of construction thereof are not illustrated. This pump isadapted to pump oil from the supply of cil in the trough in which thedriving gears are placed and immersed in cil; suitable screens beingpro` vided to prevent dirt entering the pump. The oil passes through thepipe 5b and opening 5 into the cup 5 and fills the same, and therebyalso fills the cup 3 and immerses the members 2C, 2d and 2e of thefriction clutch. The top of the cup 5 is cut away as at 5'e for escapeof overflowing oil; and a flange 5f is fastened to the outside of thecup to catch the overflow oil and direct it into a small hole c", cut inthe top of the machine, through which it Hows back into the geartrougl'i, completing the circulation of oil. A. small hole d is drilledthrough the bottom ot the cup 5 to permit oil to drain from the cup whenthe machine is at rest. This is desiraliile as it is sometimes necessaryto open up the table ot the matraine, and it the cup was 'full ot oil itwould be annoying.

its shown (Fins. L2) the die i carried by the hub or printer lb is inkedby an inkg; roller 6. which preferably has a felttace. and is mounted ona stud 6 attached to a bar Gb. which pivoted on the stud 'lf2 and can beadjusted by means of a thumb nut G engaging' a slotted plate 6d. rlheseparts are substantially 'the same as like parts used in the Universalmachine and. need no turther explanation herein. Ink is supplied to thcteit roller G by a metal rollcr 7 mounted on a spindle 7a and receivingits supply ot ink Ytrom an ink reservoir (not shown) .such as is used inthe Universal machine.

he roller 7 is continuously driven during' the operation of the machineand drives the roller 6 by trictional contact therewith. is shown thelower end ot the spindle 7' has a universal jointconnection with theupper end ot a linl: 7b, the lower end of which has a universalconnection with a spindle 7C in the gear-trough; and this spindle 70 hasa gear 7 e meshing with one ot the train ot gears and 3U) by which thespindle 3 is driren, as in the Universal machine. The roller 7 howeveris not directly connected to its spindle 7a but has a 'tree running; liton a sleeve 8, (Figs. 8 and S) which `is fastened to the spindle by apin S. The spindle 7 revolves in the direction ot' the arrow, (Fig. 9%carryingr the sleeve S with it. The sleeve 8 has spaced annular flangesSb. Se on its lower end within the roller 7 (see Fig. 9) and clutchngers S are loosely pivoted between the said langres; and thecentrifugal Atorce developed by the rapidly revolving` spindle 7a causesthe clutch tine'er to fly out and bind against the inside surface of theroller 7, thus causing: it to revolve as though it were 'fastened to thespindle, but leaving it tree to turn at the saine speed as the spindle,or faster; and any driving torce applied to the outside ot roller 7 inthe direction ot the arrow `will carry it away trom the clutch fingers8C. Any suitable clutch or ratchet and pawl device tor driving roller 7from spindle 7a may be used as the means Ator giving a oneway drive toroller 7. In the present ease the spindle 7C is geared so as to rotatethe roller T so rapidly as to canse it to rotate 'the inl'iino` roller(i at a peripheral speed less than the peripheral speed ot the printerlb on spindle l when it has attained tull speed. 'lo make this clear theaction of the machine should be clearly understood; and is briefly asfollows;

lillhen the stop 12, that holds the die spindle l from revolvine, isdisengaged 'from arm l by the trip mechanism 15, (when actuated by thepassage ot a letter li), the continuously moving` clutch on the spindlecauses it to instantly turn, but it has to turn a lcertain distancebefore it attains the same speed as the clutch which is driving` it; andtherefore at the moment when the tace ot the die P engages the telt inkrolle-r (3. the speed oit the die is less than it is when the clutch hasestablished 'tull control et the spindle l. It the t-elt roller has thesaine surface .speed as the die at the moment of contact therewith, andit their speeds troni this point on can be made equal.. all rubbingfriction between them will be avoided. In order tvo accomplish thisdesirable result the driving gears tor the spindle 7c are soproportioned as to give the roller 7 a peripheral speed less than thehighest speed ot the die P but equal to the speed ot the die P/ at themonient ot centatft with the Ytelt roller (3. rllhus the die l meetswith no resistance whatever on coming into Contact with the telt roller6, and as the die increases in speed it speeds up the rollers 6 and '7to its own speed. by trictional Contact, roller 7 meeting with noresistance from its clutch 8 when moving in the direction indicatedunder the influence of the printer.

The impression roller l and other guiding rollersshould be yieldinglymounted so that they will accommodate various thicknesses et' mail ormaterial li passed between them and the opposed driving' rollers.Heretotore in the Universal machine the roller I has been supported on abracket attached to a tlat spring arm. in the present invention limprove the mounting ot this roller by einploying a combination ot tlatand coil springs. its illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 roller .l is mountedin a bracket 9v which is securely fastened to one endl o'ta tlat spring;arni 9 set. vertically edgewise in a plane paraliel with the plane otthe axis ot the roller. The other end ot sprinp; 9 is secured to theupper end l()a ot a pivoted or rocking rod i1 t) by screws 10b. This rodl() is mounted in suitable bearings in a bracket l1 attached to the topplate ot the machine. The lower part ot the rod l0 iz; surrounded by asleeve 'IZwwhich .is supported on the bracket ll. This sleeve l2 has aVtlanfije l2 near its lower end which dang-e is provided with ratchetteeth on its periphery aeapted to be en- ;nmd b v a pawl l2 pivoted onthe bracket t. ligr. 5), An arm ille is pinned to the .c itl above thesleeve l2. and a helical spring ,iii surrounds the sleeve and rod belowthe bracket (see 7i. The upper end oil' 'this spr'n is engaged with thearm 10cand its lower end with the flange 12a, and. by turning the sleeveon the rod any desired tension can be given to the spring so as to causeit to normally press orhold the roller I toward the printer 1b with anydesired degree of pressure; and when the spring 13 is adjusted for theproper tension it is locked by pawl 12b engaging the teeth of liange12". T he flat spring 9 has no tension adjustvnent b-utis used in orderto give the desired torque to the bearing. A slight amount of torque isnecessary in the impression roller as the mail matter is frequentlythicker on either bottom or top side. A flat spring alone would furnishboth tension and torque if it could be made long enough, but on accountof the limited space it is impossible to make it sufficiently long to beeffective; and my novel combination of both flat and helical springsfives the desired resiliency and torque and is both practical andetlicient.

I do notherein claim the mechanism for yieldingly mounting theimpression roller as that forms the subject matter of a divisionalapplication (Case #6639) filed November 18, 1921, Serial No. 516,120.

From the foregoing description and drawings it will be understood thatthe die driving clutch is continually lubricated by means of oilsupplied by the pump when the machine is running; by this method oflubrication the clutch is kept cool and enables the machine to be drivenat the highest practical operative speed; in fact at al higherpractica-l operatingr speed than heretofore by making the die spindle,die hub and stop arm in one piece the weight of the parts which have tobe started and stopped for eachl operation of theA printer is greatlyreduced; and such reduction of weight is of veryV great practicalimportance as it reduces the shock on the parts in stopping the die andit also facilitates speeding up the printer when released from the stop,and thus materially enhancesthe practical speed of the machine. By thisinvention applied to the Universal machines I am able to attain a speedof nearly 1000 impressions per minute without injurious heating of thedie or clutch. In this invention I retain all the advantages of a drivendie shaft, with the added advantage of being able to continuallylubricate and cool the clutch; and I am enabled to use a worm on the diespindle for directly driving the count-er (not shown).

IVhat I claim is:

l. For mechanism of the character specified, a die spindle, printer, andstop arm, all formed integral, for the purpose specified.

2. In mechanism of the character specilied having a rotating impressionroller, a printer, and a spindle carrying the same;

a continuously running friction clutch for driving the spindle, andmeans for continually flooding the clutch with lubricant to keep theclutch cool during` the operation of the machine.

3. In mechanism as set forth in claim 2, the friction clutch cimprisingupper and lower heads attached to the spindle, a friction diskinterposed between and projecting radially beyond said heads; a driveshaft, and a member attached to said shaft and engaged with theprojecting friction disk to rotate the latter.

t. In mechanism of the character specied having' a printing member, aspindle carrying said member, and a drive shaft; a. vfriction clutchcomprising upper and lower collars non-rotatably attached to thespindle, a friction disk interposed between said collars and projectingradially beyond the adjacent collar and a cup attached to the driveshaft and surroundingthe lower part of the clutch and having its upperend engaged with the projecting friction disk to rotate the latter.

5. In combination with mechanism as set forth in claim L1, cupsurrounding the said clutch mechanism, means for flooding the cup withlubricant during the operation of the machine to lubricate and cool theclutch.

6. In mechanism of the character specified the combination of arotatable printer, an inking` roller, and means for imparting rotationto the inking roller, said means permitting the inking roller to freelyturn with the printer if the latter movesfaster than the roller isdriven.

7. In mechanism of the character specified, a rotatable printer, meansfor arresting the printer at each revolution thereof, means forreleasing the printer; means for rotating the printer when released; aninking roller and means for imparting` rotation to the inking roller ina direction opposite 'to the rotation of the printer, said mechanismpermitting the inking roller to freely turn with the printer if thelatter moves faster than the roller is driven.

8. In mechanism of the character specified, a rotatable printer, aninking roller adapted to coact with the printer, a roller forfrictionally driving the inking roller, a continually driven shaft andclutch devices whereby said latter roller is driven from said shaft,said devices permitting the rollers to turn Awith the printer fasterthan the rollers are driven.

9. In mechanism of the character specified a rotatable printer, aninking roller adapted to coact with the printer, a roller forfrictionally driving the inking roller, a continually driven shaft,clutch devices whereby the latter roller is driven from said shaft anddrives the inking roller, said clutch devices permitting the rollers toturn with the printer faster than the rollers are driven.

10. ln mechanism of the character specified having a printer and, aspindle carrying said printer, a friction clutch 'for driving thespindle from the shaft, and means ior circulating lubricant through theclutch to cool the same during the operation ot the machine.

11. in mechanism of the character specified having an impression roller,a printer and, a spindle carrying said printer; a continuously runningfriction clutch, for driving the spindle from the sha-tt, and means 'forflooding the clutch With a lubricating and cooling Huid during theoperation of the machine.

12. ln mechanism of' the character specitied having a driven sliaiftadapted to be continuously revolved during the operation ot the machine,and a die spindle alined with said shaft, and a friction clutch fordriving the spindle from the shaft; a printer and stop arm formedintegral with said spindle, tor the purpose specified.

13. ln mechanism of the character specified having a spindle, animpression roller and a printer mounted on said spindle, and a drivenshaft adapted to be operated continuously when the mechanism is inoperation; a friction clutch for driving the spindle from said shaft.`and means for continually flooding the clutch with lubricant during theoperation of the machine to keep the clutch cool.

1st. ln mechanism as set forth in claim 13, the friction clutchcomprising upper and lower heads attached to the spindlea a frictiondislr interposed between and projecting radially beyond said heads; anda member attached to said driven shaft and engaged with the projectingfriction disk to rotate the latter.

15. lin mechanism as set forth in claim 13, the means for flooding theclutch with lubricant comprising a cup surrounding the clutch mechanismand a pump for continuously supplying' the cup with lubricant during theoperation of the machine.

In testimony that claim the foregoing as my own, l aiiix my signature.

WALTER H. BOWES.

